Shaq and the NBA's good old days

in
OAKLAND -- Call him what you will --
Diesel, the Big Socrates, or by his name, Shaq. It doesn't matter, if
you don't call him finished. Which people were doing a few months back
in describing Shaquille O'Neal.



Finished? "I've been watching him since he was 15," said Alvin Gentry. "He's never been finished. You saw what he can do."



And what the Phoenix Suns can do. Which is what the critics said they never could do with Shaq in the lineup: run.

   

Turn a basketball game into a track meet. As the Suns did Sunday night,
beating the Golden State Warriors, 154-130. Without any overtimes.

  

It was like the good old days when the NBA was a league of grace, glory
and points, like the days before the game became one of shoving and
bumping and scores in the 90s or the 80s, something more resembling
wrestling than basketball.

   

Phoenix picked up Shaq in a trade just about a year ago, intending to
add muscle to speed. When the plan didn't work, the critics sneered.

    

Shaq and Steve Nash? That's like trying to blend Santa Claus and Tinkerbell.

   

"He's a proud guy," Gentry said of O’Neal. "Everybody felt he was done.
But as you can see, he's still a huge factor. He gives us the best of
both worlds. We can run or we can set up. If you don't double-team him,
he goes inside. If you do, he passes off. Arguably, he's the best big
man who ever played in this league."

   

Against the Warriors, in his second game in two nights – Saturday the
Suns were home against Oklahoma City – 37-year-old Shaq O'Neal,
7-foot-1, 325 pounds, played a few seconds less than 24 minutes and had
26 points. He was 11-of-13 from the field, 4-of-9 from the free throw
line.

   

"I accept all challenges," said O'Neal.

    

He is sitting in front of his locker, looking bemused. The man has a
great sense of humor. Also of timing. As we saw when he danced at the
opening of the All-Star Game program before he became the co-MVP with
Kobe Bryant.

 

"People have been saying I can't do this, can't do that," said O'Neal.
"I have four championships. I would like to get two or three more."

  

The Warriors couldn't match up against Shaq, not with their 7-footer,
Andris Biedrins, recovering from a sprained ankle. The Warriors
couldn't match up against the Suns. Phoenix had 120 points at the end
of three quarters. Say all you want about defense, but offense like
this is delightful.

  

The late Wilt Chamberlain told us again and again, "Nobody roots for
Goliath," and it's true there's a tendency to favor a smaller guy
against a bigger one. But Shaq is lovable, a jester, and for the heck
of it he has a master's degree. He's easy to cheer for.

   

Years ago, in the same building where the Suns crushed the Warriors,
Shaq, then with the Los Angeles Lakers, was telling about his life's
objectives during a break from a late-morning practice.

  

"I'd like to be somebody like Larry Ellison," said O'Neal, alluding to
the head of Oracle, the dot-com giant located down the highway in
Silicon Valley. "Now there's a man with real money."

   

Maybe someday, Shaq responded when reminded of the comment. That still
was a goal. If not quite as realistic as again scoring 40 points, which
he did against Toronto, becoming the third in NBA history to do it in
the uniform of four different teams.

 

A year ago, Shaq averaged 12.9 points in the 28 games he played for the
Suns. "A lot of people thought I lost it," he conceded. "I was injured.
It's kind of funny, when people say I'm injured nobody really believes
me. This is my 17th season, but I've really only played about 13
seasons because of the injuries. I have years left."

   

Earlier in March, one of Shaq's numerous former coaches, Stan Van Gundy
of Miami, whined about O’Neal "flopping" in the lane to draw a foul.
Shaq, the gentle giant, was less than gentle in his reaction.

 

"I heard his comment," Shaq said of Van Gundy. "Flopping to me is doing
it more than one time, and I realized when I tried to take the charge
as I went down, I realized that play reminded me of his whole coaching
career."

 

O'Neal had a better relationship with Warriors coach Don Nelson, for
whom he played on the 1996 U.S. Olympic team. "He was my sixth man,"
said Nelson. "He asked me if he could come off the bench. I said fine.
I love him to death."

  

If Nelson, who eventually was ejected Sunday night with a couple of
quick technical fouls, didn't love what Shaq did to his team. Finished?
Shaquille O'Neal's only just begun.



- - - - - -

© RealClearSports 2009

For A's, the Wolff is at the door

in
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The problem for the
Oakland Athletics is they were always confronting themselves, not to
mention the rest of us, with a conflict of bad ideas.



First was the ridiculous one to put tarps on the third-deck seats, as
if, borrowing from that not-so-wise bird the ostrich, what we couldn't
see wasn't there.



Then -- or did this come first? -- was the plan by owner Lew Wolff, a
real estate mogul, to erect a "village" that would contain a ballpark,
somewhere east of Eden and west of the sun. Well, in Fremont, 20 miles
from Oakland, but what's the difference?



Then in those whiny, pouting, "You don't know what I can do to you"
ways Wolff loves to impose, he complained last season nobody paid
attention to the A's, despite a surprisingly good start. And that more
people went to the games of the Giants, who weren't playing nearly as
well as his A's.



Wolff may have been the frat bro of baseball commissioner Bud Selig,
but Lew understands neither the game nor the people who support it, or
in his case fail to do as much.



You don't go around figuratively kicking fans in the teeth, whether
it's effectively telling them they're ignorant or attempting to confuse
them by trading away the talent or stealing away the franchise to
never-never land.



There are a great many individuals who would like to tell Lew what they
think, but only the folks like Lew, who don't have to listen to a boss
but are the boss, have that privilege.



What he told us Friday was Oakland (the town) stinks, and he'd go
anywhere else, including San Jose. If possible. But, ho, ho, it's not
possible.



Given the current state of the economy, the fact the Giants do hold
territorial rights down there at the south end of the bay and a place
like Sacramento has a better chance to losing the NBA Kings than it
does of acquiring the A's, Mr. Wolff is without the only thing that
means anything in his world: Leverage.

   

We concede that McAfee Coliseum isn't AT&T Park. But there are
worse venues. BART stops at the Coliseum. For day games the sun shines
at the Coliseum. And with the upper deck untarped and a crowd of at
least 20,000 there is a nice feel to the place.

   

"Our attendance and low number of season ticket holders (both one of
the lowest in Major League Baseball)," Wolff proclaimed in a statement,
"also continues to decline when our on-field performance produced
playoff participation."

  

Does Wolff need to be reminded the A's in 2007 and 2008 had losing records and were out of the race by July?

   

That those seasons they dumped almost every player who was recognizable by someone other than his own mother?

  

That continual hints of dragging the team to Fremont created negative feedback from a fan base already whipsawed?

  

Oakland, the city, hardly has been guiltless in this scenario, with
former mayor Jerry ("I know nothing about baseball except they don't
punt on fourth down") Brown preferring to build lofts in old warehouses
rather than a ballpark.

   

But lo, the current jefe, Ron Dellums, authored on Friday -- or at
least signed -- a letter to Wolff outlining the city's intent to
provide the A's a new home.

   

This was met instantly with a back-of-the-hand response from Wolff and
his minions, who spitefully answered the Oakland plea by saying, "We
have fully exhausted our time and resources over the years with Oakland
dating back to the previous A's ownership.



" ... Outside stimulation to have us continue to play in an aging and
shared facility may generate press and 'sound-bite' opportunities but
do not provide any tangible alterations in the circumstances we face."



In other words, nyah, nyah.



So, Lew, sell the team. Oh, nobody else wants it, at least until the market reaches 9,000 again?



These are tough times, as you know, and not just in the sporting business.



Journalism is dying as a profession. The New York Times said in two years there might not be a major city with a newspaper still printing. The auto companies are laying off thousands.



Who's going to buy a ball club?



The A's this late winter of '09 have given us a reason to think they
might be both interesting and contending, what with the addition of
Matt Holliday, Jason Giambi, Orlando Cabrera and Nomar Garciaparra
along with the maturing of a seemingly decent pitching staff. Then
along comes the man in charge who says, "B'gone, with all of you."



Lew Wolff is angry because he couldn't get what he wanted. What A's
fans want is assurance their team will be not only worth watching but
playing where they should be, in Oakland, new park or old.

Warriors fans can be faulted for their passion

in
OAKLAND,  Calif. -- The crowd wasn't a sellout, but it was large.
Maybe too large. And too passionate. The Golden State Warriors arguably
have the best fans in pro basketball.




To their great disadvantage.




We had a brief interlude, a fling, a couple of years ago. The Warriors,
ending their seasons of silence, qualified for the playoffs, even
stunned the Dallas Mavericks in the first round. Hysteria. Elation.




But it's all in the past.




The Warriors are a bad team once again as this NBA season of '08-'09
wobbles toward the end, a bad team whose coach and star seemingly are
forever in conflict. And yet people don't seem to care.




Because they care too much for the Warriors. And so management resists change.




Don Nelson continues to coach, even if at times he seems rather bothered by the whole idea, other than having a seat of power.




Monta Ellis continues to confront Nelson, contradicting virtually everything Nellie puts forth.




And Chris Mullin continues as general manager, even if through
machinations by Nelson and president Robert Rowell, Mully's viewpoints
are of little consequence.




A mess. Except at the box office. Where it counts the most in pro sports.




Wednesday night, the Warriors played the New Jersey Nets at Oracle
Arena. Beat them, too, 116-112. Before 18,203 fans, who showed up to
scream and hoot and holler for a team that came into the game with
exactly twice as many defeats (42) as victories (21).




Fans who won't be deterred by reality. Fans apparently oblivious to the
private little war between the coach with the dictator's philosophy and
the player, Ellis, with the rebel's brazenness.




Fans who refuse to desert a team that will fail to get to the post-season for the 14th time in 15 years.




The Warriors are the little soap opera that isn't good enough for prime
time but nevertheless can't be ignored. A year ago it was Nellie and
Baron Davis at war, and noting what the Baron has done with the
Clippers, the situation up here could be worse.




This time it's Nellie and Monta. Not to mention Nellie and Jamal Crawford.




Ellis was back from his travels, not to be confused with traveling,
having returned from his home in Mississippi, missing the previous
seven games because of (take your pick) stiffness in the ankle he
injured during the summer in that moped accident or because he was
visiting his sick mother. Nelson said it was the former, Monta the
latter.




"Monta complained three different times, three different games that he
had soreness in his ankle," Nelson insisted before Ellis went out and
picked up 19 points and six assists against the Nets.




"He missed a few games, then he was supposed to come back to us, and he went to visit his mother and that's the story."




Not according to Ellis, who reiterated an earlier statement, "I told you I went to see my mom."




Nelson also said the Warriors would be ridding themselves of Jamal
Crawford, acquired in a trade from the Knicks for Al Harrington,
because Crawford makes $8 or $9 million, too much for a backup guard.




That was before the game. Before Crawford scored 19 points, 15 in the
fourth quarter. "He did most of his damage when running the point,"
conceded Nelson, who explained Crawford had been with the Warriors some
50 games, as if it was about time Jamal did something. Other than toss
in 50 earlier in the schedule.




Nellie has told others he is happiest at games, moving players in and
out, shouting instructions, that practice is as much work for him as
the athletes, not surprising when you've been coaching for decades.




The question might be whether this indeed is Nelson's team or a team
that Nelson tolerates and attempts to maneuver to his own pleasure. It
has long been accepted Nellie doesn't like using rookies, although now
in this season without hope the Warriors are starting Anthony Randolph
at forward.




Don Nelson can be gruff. Don Nelson can be impatient. He's done this
work a long time -- some might say too long -- and there's not a
mistake he hasn't seen or a reporter's irritating question he hasn't
heard.




Asked if the morale on the Warriors, considering the Ellis affair and
the conversation he had with Crawford about the future or lack of same,
is acceptable, Nelson responded immediately.


 


"It's acceptable when you consider the kind of year we've had," said
the coach. "We've won 21 ballgames (now 22), and we've worked hard to
keep the attitude and the morale good. I can't say it's been perfect
but overall it's been very good -- one of the few things we've done
well this year."




Along with packing the house with the best fans in basketball.

RealClearSports: The Dreaded New York State of Mind

in
By Art Spander



Alex Rodriguez underwent hip surgery. After admitting he took steroids.
Oh, you knew all that? Sorry. I forgot. Whatever happens in New York,
unlike Vegas, doesn't stay in New York.



It inundates virtually all of the free world.



We know the lyric, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.
What the New York media make of almost every occurrence east of the
Hudson River is far too much.



At least for the rest of us, meaning the other 49 states and the territory of Puerto Rico.



The theory posited here is tabloids are in a large way responsible for
the creation of a great sports town. New York and environs have three
of those babies. And each offers sports on the back of the paper.



Providing some absolutely captivating headlines -- "HIP WRECK," "DOPE
OPERA" and "HIP-HOPE" were three on A-Rod's torn labrum -- and a
measure of overkill.



The non-tabloid New York daily, yes the Times, briefly was able to step
back from the Rodriguez story with a reflection on Terrell Owens, the
receiver who as at each stop previously, San Francisco and
Philadelphia, outlived his welcome and was waived by the Dallas Cowboys.



Almost immediately, T.O. was signed by the Buffalo Bills -- poor
devils; they'll learn -- but the Times piece was how he should have
been acquired by the New York Jets.



New Yorkers delight in pointing out their degree of sporting
sophistication, but in reality they are no less provincial than the
residents of Denver or Cincinnati. In fact, they are more.



And because three of the TV networks, the primary wire service and four
major papers are located there, the country invariably is set up to
believe if it's not the Yankees who count it's the Mets. It certainly
isn't either the Knicks or the Nets.



Third basemen. A-Rod is one. So is Eric Chavez of the Oakland
Athletics. He's attempting to recover from his own injuries and Monday
unexpectedly was not able to start as a position player for the first
time this spring.



Did anyone notice? Not in New York. It was more of the same. More of A-Rod.



The imbalance is startling. The Phillies won the World Series over the
Rays. Pittsburgh and Arizona played in the Super Bowl. Last year's NBA
finals matched the Celtics and Lakers, and this year's very well could
do the same. In the Stanley Cup finals, the Detroit Red Wings defeated
the Pittsburgh Penguins.



Not a New York team among the group. But New York hype and self-loathing was everywhere we looked.



When Rodriguez, after consultations, decided to have his hip partially
repaired immediately instead of waiting, the New York Daily News,
paraphrasing Derek Jeter, headlined WE WILL SURVIVE. They might, but
will anybody else?



No ill will is wished for A-Rod, an MVP, a star, but the coming days in
the New York press will be devoted almost entirely to his recovery.
Sure, room will be found for the NFL draft, of Giants and Jets variety
that is, but be forewarned. Basically the next five months will be
Rodriguez and more Rodriguez.



Of course it's a conspiracy. Had A-Rod stayed with the Mariners, with
whom he entered the majors, or with the Rangers, we would barely know
of the man. The $252 million contract he signed with Texas did raise
him a bit out of the ordinary, but nothing like being a member of the
Yankees.



You recall that Alex and his agent, the dreaded Scott Boras, explored
the idea of joining the Red Sox. That would have been a hoot.



The pieces never would have fit together the way they do in New York,
the tabloids, the critics, the Yankees' inability to advance to the
World Series or last season even to the playoffs.



New York is in love with itself. As depicted in that historic New
Yorker magazine cover, the people perceive everything beyond Manhattan
and the Bronx as wasteland.



An oft-repeated axiom is that while at other locations everything works
but nothing matters, in New York very little works and everything
matters.



With that sense of entitlement, as it were, New Yorkers hurl their
thoughts and preferences at the rest of us, who have spent a lifetime
trying unsuccessfully to avoid them.



At the moment, A-Rod doesn't work, and to the news folk gleefully
observing the situation that matters more than anything else in sports.



It's difficult to determine whether Alex Rodriguez is a bigger story
playing or not playing. We are about to find out. Unfortunately.



As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports
history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his
long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has
earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And he has
recently been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of
America for 2009.



- - - - - -



http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/03/the_dreaded_new_york_state_of.html

© RealClearSports 2009

A's signing of Nomar and Cabrera prove they're serious

in
PHOENIX -- The T-shirt was a reminder, and
a tease. "No Splash Hits" were the words on the front, a poke at the
team across the bay, the Giants. "Four World Titles," it said on the
shirt's back, a reference to the great days of the Oakland Athletics.



Days the A's have decided to pursue once more.



The A's are off the treadmill, that depressing process of selecting and
developing young talent only to send the players off to other teams and
then starting the procedure once again.



Now it is to be seen if the A's are off to the races -- well, the race. The pennant race.



Rumors became actuality Friday. A short while before Oakland played the
Seattle Mariners on a pleasant afternoon at Phoenix Muni, management
introduced proof it is serious about chasing a championship instead of
continuing the chase to nowhere.



In a little room above the team's spring offices, assistant general
manager Bob Forst brought in Orlando Cabrera, destined to be starting
at shortstop, and Nomar Garciaparra, the man who's been everywhere from
Boston to Chicago to Los Angeles.



What a change. What a welcome change. The A's have, out of desperation
or because of planning, too frequently surrendered their stars or
potential stars, trading a Dan Haren, a Rich Harden.



The talk always was about the future. But to borrow that line from the late football coach George Allen, the future is now.



It was time to stop worrying about a stadium in Fremont, a nonsensical
idea from the start, created more to market real estate than win
titles, and think about playing ball.



It was time to find out if with the right chemistry and a few breaks, a fifth world title would be a possibility.



So the A's signed Matt Holliday, who carries a .319 lifetime batting
average and a $13.5 million contract, and brought back the
still-capable Jason Giambi, who before the steroid talk and the seasons
with the Yankees, was the 2000 American League MVP with Oakland.



That led to the 35-year-old Garciaparra and 34-year-old Cabrera adding
their ages and experience to a franchise too long acknowledged for
being too young.



"Having Giambi back, having Matt here, and Eric Chavez, who's probably
one of my favorites, that's what drew me here," said Cabrera. He hit
.281 with the White Sox in 2008, .301 with the Dodgers in 2007. He was
in the '04 World Series with the Red Sox. And he shows up every day.



Garciaparra, on the Dodgers the last three years, has a history of
injuries. He missed 90 games in '08 and wondered if his career was
finished. But a winter of rehabilitation, of learning strained calf
muscles were an inborn problem that needed continual attention, made
him believe he could stay on as ballplayer.



"The Phillies wanted me to sign a while ago," said Garciaparra, "but I
didn't think it was fair to commit until I made sure I was right. Here,
I was looking at the good combination of young guys and veterans, at
what Jason (Giambi) had accomplished in the game."



Early on last season, the A's, with their youth, were five or six games
behind the Angels, whose regular-season superiority was evident in
their major league high of 100 wins. But then the Athletics began to
slip, and Harden and Chad Gaudin were traded. The slip evolved into a
crash.



Oakland finished 75-86, 24 1/2 games behind the Angels. A's management had conceded. Again.



Just wait, we were told, until the new ballpark in Fremont is finished.
Then the money would pour in and the names could be retained.



It's finished, but not the way A's owner Lew Wolff had in mind.



So the people in the front office decided to sell baseball instead of
selling fans on real estate. Holliday, Giambi, Cabrera, Garciaparra. No
more a "who's he?" lineup.



"We've added talent," assured Forst. "You can talk about young and old,
but we'll always take talent. I think starting with Matt, adding Jason,
bringing in these two, we have added guys we felt could make us better
right away. Plus we have the young players from last year, the Suzukis
(catcher Kurt Suzkuki), plus kids who are coming, (pitchers) Trevor
Cahill and Brett Anderson.



"It wasn't in the conversation, saying, 'Hey, we're going to go for
it.' We always have wanted to put the best team on the field, and I
think the guys we've added will help us achieve that goal."

    

Well, despite the rhetoric, hey, they're going to go for it. Finally.

Carney Lansford's nightmare: His batters against his son

in
SCOTTSDALE,  Ariz. -- The relaxed mood
of spring baseball no longer existed. The games players say don't mean
that much suddenly meant too much for Carney Lansford.



His son was pitching against the hitters he coaches.



The requirement for 22-year-old Jared Lansford, the Oakland Athletics
reliever, was to prevent any success by batters of the San Francisco
Giants, whose responsibility is that of 52-year-old Carney Lansford.



Who, as fortune would have it, was a longtime member of the Athletics.



"I could not watch," said Carney.



So, in the bottom of the fifth Thursday at Scottsdale Stadium, Lansford
marched into the Giants clubhouse, hiding from reality as it were.
Intelligently so.



"I've seen him pitch a couple of times before," said Carney of Jared,
"but I couldn't do this one. My hitters against my son. A no-win
situation."



For Jared, who got a pre-game hug from his dad, the situation was strange but not quite serious.



"It was different from any other team I faced," said the young pitcher,
now in his fifth season after having been drafted in 2005 out of St.
Francisco High School in Mountain View, Calif.



"I think it was worse for him than for me."



It was. Much worse. Jared would allow a couple of hits in his inning of
a game the A's won, 4-2, and has not allowed a run in three innings of
exhibition play.



"I didn't have my best stuff," Jared conceded, "but I got them to put the ball in play."



Jared appreciated the experience. Up in the stands, so did Debbie
Lansford, mother and wife, and Jared's younger brother, Josh, who will
report to the Cubs' camp in a few days.



"Oh yeah," agreed Debbie, "it was fun. It doesn't matter who they're
playing, I like to watch. It was unusual, but I enjoyed it very much."



Carney did not.



"I wanted him to pitch well, obviously," said Carney. " just couldn't
watch. My heart was pounding too much. And my stomach was in knots."



After the game, the family came together, as close as possible when
Carney and Jared were on one side of the screen behind home plate and
Debbie and Josh on the other. They exchanged smiles and through the
netting handshakes.



"I talked to my dad maybe a minute before the game," said Jared, as
relaxed as Carney was intense, "teasing him a little bit. I asked him
if he gave away my secrets. It was a lot of fun."



Jared's pitching coach is Curt Young, who found the whole thing
fascinating, especially since he now is in charge of Jared's
improvement and in the late 1980s and early 1990s was Carney's teammate
on the A's.



"Just watching it live," said Young, "it was real exciting for me. Just
knowing Carney and playing with him and knowing his son's out there
facing the hitters he's worked with. I'm sure it was a big day for the
two of them."



At least the one of them.



Carney, American League batting champion with the Boston Red Sox in
1981, later asked some of those batters, Rich Aurilia, Juan Uribe and
Steve Holm, what they thought of the pitcher they faced.



Aurilia and Uribe grounded out. Holm and Eugenio Velez singled, Velez'
ball not leaving the infield. Then Andres Torres grounded out. Five
batters, only one ball to the outfield.



"They said he had pretty good movement on his ball," Carney explained.
"Maybe a little too much movement. But he made the pitches when he had
to.



"I saw him pitch a few times in the Fall League, high school and the
minors. But this is a nightmare for me, for him to pitch against our
team."



The nightmare was brief. The Lansfords, all four of them, are staying
in the same condo. "I'm sure we'll talk about it tonight when we all
get there," said Jared.



The Family Lansford never has been far from baseball. Carney signed a
contract in 1975 after graduating from Wilcox High in Santa Clara and
played through 1992. After coaching with the A's and managing the
Angels farm team at Edmonton, he left the game after the 1999 season,
only to return in 2007.



He's been through a great deal, the 1989 Earthquake Series, trades, injuries. But nothing quite like he went through Thursday.



"But now," said Debbie Lansford, "we all go back to the house and have dinner, and life is good for another couple of days."

      

She understands. It's only a game.

RealClearSports: Dodgers Get Manny Happy Returns

in
By Art Spander











































GLENDALE, Ariz. -- An odd placement for a media conference, on the
deck of the Dodgers training complex, the new ballpark behind Joe
Torre's right shoulder, the old leftfielder in California beyond those
mountains to the west.

Exhibition season, isn't it? And that was some exhibition. Torre,
in uniform, if at the last moment, and general manager Ned Colletti,
explaining how after four months of desultory conversation the Great
Manny Ramirez Confrontation had come to a happy end.

Manny will be Manny once more as a Dodger. Not that this wasn't inevitable.

He has what the Dodgers need, talent. They have what Manny (and his
agent, Scott Boras) want, money. The signing, which technically hadn't
yet taken place Wednesday afternoon, was delayed, but it also was
inevitable.

"We had a desire to try and put the personality back into the
picture instead of just the negotiations," was the Colletti
explanation of how and why Manny (and Boras) at last were willing to
accept the two-year, $45 million contract they were not willing to
accept the last four months.

The guys, pals all, we're advised, sat in the home of Dodgers owner
Frank McCourt in Malibu -- hey, you think he's going to live in Los
Angeles? -- on Tuesday night and worked over the details.

"I thought Manny seemed very happy about the possibility," said Colletti.

And so another sporting crisis is averted. It's always something in our little world, isn't it?

A-Rod's hip. As opposed to A-Rod's 'roids. Kurt Warner visiting the
49ers in search of millions, and of course, signing once more with the
Arizona Cardinals, whose flying saucer-like stadium is quite visible a
couple of miles from the new facility used by the Dodgers and Chicago
White Sox.

We sit around and worry whether the Mannys and Kurts will
eventually reconnect with their current team, or maybe a different one,
while all around us the markets collapse, the economy bottoms out and
jobs are lost by the millions.

On this warm Wednesday in the desert, the Dodgers were playing a
spring game against their rivals, the Giants, who had shown interest in
acquiring Ramirez, but only under their own conditions.

San Francisco appears to have pitching. Randy Johnson struck out
seven on Tuesday. Barry Zito looked decent Wednesday, allowing four
hits, three runs and no walks during his two-plus innings. The Giants,
however, lack hitting. They would not have that problem with Manny.

"Under the right circumstances we would have wanted to sign him,"
said Giants team president Larry Baer, in attendance Wednesday. "We did
have a lot of conversation."

What the Giants would have wanted, the Dodgers obtained. Manny
makes them the favorites in National League West. More than that, Manny
once more makes them an attraction in a town that pays attention only
to attractions.

Manny can send balls over fences. Manny can send fans through the
gates, and in these difficult times -- attendance without Manny on
Wednesday was only 5,944 at the 13,000-seat Camelback Ranch Stadium -- that
is not to be underestimated.

When Zito, in the third year of his own dream-world contract, $126
million, was told the next time he pitches against the Dodgers, Manny
would be in the L.A. lineup, he shrugged.

"He's great and a challenge," was the Zito observation. Advised
the Dodgers now would be the choice in the division, Zito said, "I
think wherever he went he would have brought that with him."

What Ramirez also brings is the infamous baggage, a reputation for
dogging it, of going by his own rules, that proved unacceptable to his
previous team, Boston, but doesn't bother his current one, Los Angeles.

"Manny certainly seems comfortable here," said Torre. The manager
and general manager, delayed by Southern California rains, had flown in
only minutes before the meeting with the press.

"I couldn't be more pleased in how excited he was," said Torre. "Just the prospect of getting back on the field. He's in shape, but
after he shows up it probably will be a week until he's ready."

The Dodgers were ready to sign Ramirez, but as is so often the case
in such situations a charade had to be played out so neither side lost
respect.

It was a chess match destined to end at checkmate and both parties expressing appreciation of the other.

Only last Sunday, McCourt said the negotiations would be started "from scratch." Did that actually occur? The figures, two years, $45
million, had been debated for a while. But we're into the month of
March, and it was time for a settlement.

"We're trying to build a team here that works together," said Colletti, "and sticks together. A team that wins."

For $45 million, that's the least to expect.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports
history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his
long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has
earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And he has
recently been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of
America for 2009.

- - - - - -
http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/03/dodgers_get_manny_happy_return.html
© RealClearSports 2009

Contra Costa Times: Old Greg Norman's stormin' at wind-blown British Open

in ,

SOUTHPORT, England -- Windy? Candlestick Park was never close to this. We're lucky not to have been blown back to the 19th century. In the immortal words of Greg Norman, "It was just brutal today.''


But not brutal enough to keep Norman from the lead after three rounds.



Not brutal enough to keep more than 40,000 spectators from scrambling up and down the 40-foot dunes at Royal Birkdale.

Read more...

CBS Sports: No longer a surprise, but Curtis' third-round play probably is

in ,
SOUTHPORT, England -- He's not a surprise any longer, though the way Ben Curtis played Saturday in the British Open, overcoming wind gusts that proved disastrous to virtually everyone else, was hardly expected.

Five years ago, no one knew Ben Curtis from Ben Franklin. Curtis showed up more tourist than competitor for the Open at Royal St. Georges, talking about visiting London on his way to the tournament.

Read more...

London Daily Telegraph: The Open: World No. 1 Tiger Woods texts Mark O'Meara to provide support and motivation

in ,

The text message was there in the morning. If Tiger Woods could not be at Royal Birkdale, at least his words were, directed at longtime pal and 1998 Open champion Mark O'Meara.


"He told me to go out and kick some butt," O'Meara said, then laughed in reflection. "I didn't kick any butt. I was just getting my butt kicked."


Read more...

CBS Sports: Spider-Man weaves himself into leaderboard with amazing 65

in ,
SOUTHPORT, England -- He's only here because Kenny Perry isn't. Kenny Perry doesn't think enough of the world's oldest tournament, sometimes the world's toughest tournament, to cross the sea.

So Camilo Villegas, who failed in qualifying, found an exempt place in the 137th the British Open. Villegas was 51st in the World Golf Rankings when the field was set, and the top 50 gain entry. Thanks, Mr. Perry.

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CBS Sports: 'Tough for everybody'? Not quite, and Mickelson slips

in ,
SOUTHPORT, England -- For Phil Mickelson, Royal Birkdale is a royal pain in the scorecard. Every 10 years or so, the British Open shows up here on the Lancashire Coast, and Phil's game does not.

The third round of the 1998 Open, when golf broke down Mickelson faster than an interrogation by Scotland Yard, he had his all-time worst score in a major, 15-over-par 85. Reflecting on 40 mph winds, he said, "It was a challenging day."

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Oakland Tribune: Garcia has tough act to follow

in ,

SOUTHPORT, England -- The summer of Spain. The country's soccer team capturing a championship, the European Cup, it hadn't won in 44 years. A tennis player winning Wimbledon, something a Spaniard hadn't done in virtually the same length of time. And now... ?


And now out strides "El Nino," Sergio Garcia, brimming with faith, believing in omens, relying on experience.


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Contra Costa Times: Lema was toast of St. Andrews after win on first British try

in ,

SOUTHPORT, England -- He is riding a surge of confidence, exactly what a golfer needs, especially playing in a British Open for the first time.


Anthony Kim arrives at Royal Birkdale for his initial experience at links golf, and so we reach back in time for a meaningful parallel.



The unwritten rule is you don't win a major in your debut. That's true. Unless you're Ben Curtis in the 2003 British. Or Fuzzy Zoeller in the 1979 Masters.

Or Tony Lema in the 1964 British.

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Oakland Tribune: Nadal outlasts Federer in one for the ages

in ,
WIMBLEDON, England -- This was what we had hoped, the best in the world, playing a match for history and for memory. The two at the top of tennis going for a place only one could occupy.And this is what we got, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, battling each other and the elements until the point of no returns and too much emotion.

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